Public Planning Process Continues

On Saturday, May 20, 2000, citizens of Woodford County joined together to create a vision for Woodford County.  Groups of people from all over the county used pencils and markers to draw out their ideas about Downtown Versailles and the Versailles Center.  Groups of eight to ten people discussed businesses, parks, schools, sidewalks, and parking lots, which formed the basis for what was drawn on the map.  

After the drawing session, the maps were projected on to a screen so that the rest of the crowd could see the details of what each group had drawn.  A member from each group summarized the main points made at each table.   
Table #1

  • Downtown
    • Beautify and enhance historic downtown
    • Attractive multi-family units 
    • Share parking/future parking structure
    • Setback rule is bad

    Versailles Center

    • Center-block parking

    • Residential: Houses facing the streets; variety; porches

    • More trees and sidewalks along Lexington Road

     
    Table #2

    		Downtown
    • More residential downtown
    • Bury overhead utilities
    • Make streets walkable for seniors

    Lexington Road

    • Rebuild: Buildings in front, parking behind
    • Pedestrian-friendly

    Versailles Center

    • Smaller buildings - don't forget local business
    • Theatres, restaurants
    • Neo-traditional, fronts and backs, alleys

     
    Table #3

     

    		 Downtown
    • Number one priority: Historic buildings
    • Bike paths, repair sidewalks!
    • Transportation system (trolley)

    Versailles Center

    • Green space
    • Entrance experience - fountain or monument
    Table #4

     

    		 Downtown
    • Defined edges, no sprawl
    • Keep historic character, design standards
    • Real employment opportunities
    • Roadways to get to the south end of town

    Versailles Center

    • Boulevard treatment with sidewalks and bike paths
    • Better standards for new buildings with lighting, signage, proportions
    • Real functioning town with recreation, movies, and restaurants
    Table #5

     

    		 Downtown
    • Historic District - incentives to restore
    • Litter control, fines, recycling

    Versailles Center

    • Choice one would be no strip development
    • Make it walkable
    • Public transportation for the county
    • Mix residential with business
    Table #6

    		Downtown
    • Keep the "feel" of downtown
    • Promote apartments upstairs
    • Architecture, landscape rules

    Lexington Road

    • Traffic calming, reduce curb cuts
    • Narrow lanes, on-street parking
    • Trees
    • Connected parking lots

    Versailles Center

    • Create a park in the neighborhood center
    • Minimize pavement
    Table #7

     

    		  
    • Promote more upscale housing
    • Post Office could have branch downtown
    • More recreation, etc.
    • Roundabout at the crazy intersection
    • Avoid the "big box" look
    • We're tree-happy people
    • Make a whole new image, make it more people-friendly (not just in downtown)
    Table #8

    		Downtown
    • Create new excitement downtown
    • Ground floor commerce, residential upstairs
    • Wrap park with buildings
    • Use railroad bed for "pedway"

    Versailles Center

    • Match the ambience of downtown, but not a competitive duplicate
    • Not just one story
    • No big-box chain store
    • No dead side to buildings, no blank walls
    • Pedestrian access across Lexington Road
    • Create neighborhood around Versailles Center
    Table #9

    		Downtown
    • Road system should not be "tail-wagging dog"
    • Walkable, bikeable town
    • Clean up the corridor leading to town

    Versailles Center

    • No big box just sitting there
    • Sense of arrival
    • Complementary and connected downtowns
    • Things for children, like movies
    • Reuse old buildings for community center or seniors
    • Parking structure downtown
    Table #10

     

    		 Downtown
    • Mixed use, increased residential
    • Roundabouts at Woodford Feed
    • Bus or trolley
    • Green medians like Richmond Road in Lexington

    Versailles Center

    • Terminate vista with architecture
    • Connected roads
    • Residential: Grid streets, alleys
    Table #11

    		Downtown
    • Parking structure somewhere
    • Tree-lined vista

    Lexington Road

    • Rejected roundabout
    • Proposed instead more connections, network of streets

    Versailles Center

    • Not a standard strip mall
    • Break up parking area
    • Make anchor building reusable
    • Usable green space, maybe incorporate homes

     

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